If you haven’t heard about the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, it’s the silver lining resulting from our neighborhood’s heavily industrious past—the disastrous Exxon oil spill, which leaked between 17-30 million gallons of oil into Newtown Creek over the course of several decades. The state was awarded millions of dollars ($19.5 mill to be exact), to be earmarked toward grants for Greenpoint-based environmental organizations. Since the GCEF was established in 2011, 46 grants totaling $16.8 million have been awarded to 40 projects, and the fund has leveraged an additional $37.6 million in matching contributions from grantees.